Heart and Soul

Episode 71

Happy Families

By Allan Craig

 

Carrie Masters’ day began the same as every other; repeating the routine of getting up before seven, throwing on whatever clothes were clean after a quick shower, give Adam his breakfast while making something to eat for herself and Nate, who tended to get up around half an hour after she did.

 

As she stood at the toaster, she heard Nate’s footsteps coming down the stairs, way earlier than usual. “What are you doing up at this time?” Carrie asked without even turning around.

 

“I thought I’d go for a run.” Nate explained, sliding one of his headphones into one of his ears. “I need to clear my head.”

 

“Do you want anything cooked for you coming back?” Carrie asked, unaware that she was stepping right into the dutiful wife role that her mother had happily played for as long as she could remember.

 

“No, thanks, I don’t know how long I’ll be so I’ll just grab something on my way home.” Nate explained, sliding the other headphone in and pushing play on his MP3 player before heading out of the back door and closing it behind him. Carrie took a sip of her coffee, feeling that Nate was keeping something from her, but she just didn’t know what it was.

 

 

Diane Sterling’s day began the same as every other; sleeping in until ten, having a leisurely brunch on the balcony as she poured over the morning paper, and on Tuesdays it was followed by a few hours of pampering at the spa.

 

“When will you be back?” Joseph asked as he leaned out of the doorway to his study.

 

“About two. You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to this massage after the weekend I’ve had.”

 

“I’m sure shopping, shopping online and dinner at the Country Club must be really draining.” Joseph joked.

 

“I’ll have you know that I spent many hours looking up the best private schools in the area, you can never be too well prepared when it comes to education, especially given how exclusive these schools can be.”

 

Joseph sighed and rolled his eyes. “Would you calm down a little, Diane? Megan’s only been pregnant for a few weeks, I don’t think she’ll thank you for planning out this baby’s entire life before it’s even born. Tell me, will baby Monroe be attending Harvard or Yale, or are we considering somewhere out West?”

 

“Very funny.” Diane narrowed her eyes and glared at her fiancé. She couldn’t help but be excited about Megan’s pregnancy, knowing that she’d at least be able to build bridges with her daughter in the run up to the birth of the child, allowing her to be a part of at least one grandchild’s life since Carrie was still making it as difficult as possible for her to see Adam. Diane slung her Balenciaga handbag over her petite shoulder and headed out of the apartment, leaving Joseph to his own nefarious devices.

 

 

Despite his best efforts, Shane Baldwin’s day hadn’t started the same as usual since his daughter had turned up unexpectedly a few days earlier. The morning workout followed by a coffee on the way to the office or lunch with a beautiful woman had been replaced with making sure Lucy didn’t break his stereo system or set off the fire alarm in the penthouse when trying to cook toast.

 

“What are you planning on doing today?” Shane asked his pretty teenage offspring.

 

“I thought I’d maybe do a little bit of shopping, see what Oakridge has to offer in terms of retail therapy. Although I’m going to need to borrow one of your credit cards because my ogre of a mother has cancelled mine.” Lucy explained casually.

 

“Have you spoken to your mother to let her know where you are?” Shane asked, not particularly caring about his ex-wife but wanting to make sure Lucy wasn’t intent on sticking around for too long; he loved his daughter in small doses but he didn’t have the time to be a full time father, and with all the child support he was paying Nadine, she should be taking care of Lucy.

 

“No, but I’m sure you’ve called her to let her know, right?” Lucy flipped through the channels on Shane’s 32” plasma screen, settling on a marathon of The Hills, her favourite show. “Besides, where else would I go?”

 

“Where else indeed.” Shane muttered under his breath as he flipped through his wallet and handed his daughter a plastic card. “This one ought to do, just don’t be going crazy with it. I’ve got to head to the office for a little while, will you be alright by yourself?”

 

“I’m a big girl, father, I can take care of myself.”

 

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Shane sighed.

 

“Wait, you said you’d take me out to lunch today so we could catch up.” Lucy moaned, not willing to give up her hold on her father’s attention. “I think we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

 

“I’m really pretty busy Lucy.” Shane began, but melted at the sight of Lucy’s trademark ‘get what I want’ face. “But okay, what difference is a few hours going to make?”

 

“Great. Where’s good to eat around here?” Lucy flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulders as she rose from the comfy white sofa.

 

“Lucy, I think we need to talk.” Shane motioned for his daughter to sit back down, and she obliged.

 

“This isn’t going to be one of those awkward father-daughter moments, is it?”

 

Shane sighed, surely Lucy didn’t think she could just announce herself on him and live with him in Oakridge, did she? “I know you and your mom aren’t exactly getting on too well right now, but are you sure it’s best that you leave everything in Manhattan behind? Your school work, your friends, your life…just because you and your mother have had a fight?”

 

“Believe it or not, it’s far more complex than that.” Thanks to year years in Manhattan’s finest private schools, Lucy spoke with better vocabulary and grammar than many adults.

 

“Well then, would you care to fill me in?”

 

“I’ll tell you all about it over lunch.” Lucy stood up. “I’m going to get ready, so you can think about where you’re taking me to eat.”

 

Shane rolled his eyes as Lucy made her way up the staircase, wondering how exactly he had been suckered into being a full time father all of a sudden.

 

 

Kristen leaned against the bar of The Bungalow, glancing out onto the moderately busy restaurant as she struggled to concentrate on the bar order. She took a sip of her water and tried to block all thoughts of Greg from her mind; it had been weeks since she had ended their relationship and still she couldn’t stop wondering whether or not she had made the right decision by letting him go.

 

She watched as Carrie struggled to enter the restaurant with Adam in his stroller and walked over to help her sister. They hadn’t really spoken properly in a few months, but Kristen hoped that surely the cold front would have melted, at least a little.

 

“Hey,” Kristen smiled awkwardly as she looked at her clearly stressed out sister. “You need a hand?”

 

Carrie didn’t know where she stood with Kristen; it wasn’t too long ago that Kristen was shouting at her fiancé and telling her how wrong Nate was for her, “Um, yeah, thanks.”

 

Kristen took the huge bag that was slung over Carrie’s shoulder and carried it over to a table for her whilst Carrie pushed the stroller over and took a seat. “Is mom here? I was hoping she could maybe watch Adam for a while so I can run some errands.”

 

“She’s not around today, something about an art fair in Westbridge.” Kristen explained as she took a seat opposite her sister. “I could watch him for you if you wanted.”

 

“You’re too busy running this place,” Carrie was taken aback at her sister’s sudden kindness after months of petty squabbling.

 

“Don’t be stupid, Car, I can get Gianni to take over for a bit. Besides, it would be nice to catch up with my little buddy.”

 

“If you’re sure…I’ll only be a little while.”

 

“Take as long as you want. You look like you could use a break.” Kristen bit her tongue when it came to accusing Nate of not pulling his weight, after all, it wasn’t his responsibility to take care of another man’s kid. Despite her hatred for Carrie’s thuggish fiancé, she couldn’t throw parental responsibility in his face.

 

“To be honest, I’ve barely sat down for the last few weeks. Now with this whole joint custody agreement any down time I would have got in the past is spent ferrying Adam between my house and Greg’s place.”

 

“How is he with Adam?” Kristen couldn’t fight her urge to hear about Greg, as hard as it was for her to want to be with him again, she still couldn’t help but ask after him. “Is he okay looking after him?”

 

“He’s fine I guess. I just hate the idea of Diane being involved in his life, you know?”

 

“Well that’s understandable after everything she put you through.” Kristen couldn’t believe she and Carrie were chatting casually after everything that happened; it was just like when they were kids again and one would break the other’s toy, causing them to swear revenge on the other until milk and cookies had them being best friends again.

 

“Well I better get going; the sooner I leave the sooner I can be back. Are you sure you’re okay watching him?”

 

“Of course I am.” Kristen insisted, glancing at her toddler nephew, “Take your time, we’ll be just fine.”

 

 

 

Struggling to carry her shopping bags to the door of her father’s hotel suite, Jessica breathed a sigh of relief when Patrick appeared in front of the open door.

 

“Let me help you,” Patrick offered, taking some of the bags from her daughter. “Someone’s been busy.”

 

“If you won’t treat yourself, who will?” Jessica shrugged as she took a seat on the plush cream sofa, relieving her aching heels.

 

“Certainly not that boyfriend of yours. I’m guessing he’s not going to be joining us today?” Patrick couldn’t help but notice that Jessica never seemed to be with Rex, he was always working and not devoting nearly enough time to his daughter.

 

“Rex has a very demanding job, dad, he can’t help it if it takes up a lot of his time.” Jessica explained before asking herself why the hell she was justifying the fact that her relationship took a back seat to Rex’s job. “Are Marc and Megan meeting us here?”

 

“No they’re meeting us downstairs in the restaurant. You can leave your bags here if you want, save you carrying them down with you.”

 

“We better get going or we’ll be late.” Jessica smoothed down her cream figure hugging dress and checked her loose blonde curls before exiting Patrick’s suite, with him following closely behind. They took the elevator and made their way down to the hotel restaurant. Ramsay at The Albion was one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city, something Jessica and her father were oblivious to as they made their way past the queue of people waiting, hoping to get a table for lunch.

 

The maître d' whisked them into the chic dining room of the hotel’s restaurant. Soft jazz music echoed through the spacious room, lined with round tables with white linen tablecloths on polished walnut floors. As they reached their table, where Marc and Megan were already waiting, Patrick ordered drinks for the table and slid the maître d' a generous tip.

 

“So what’s the news?” Jessica asked, cutting straight to the chase. “Are you guys going to have a reception in Oakridge? I’ll throw you the best one ever…”

 

“We’re not having a wedding reception, Jess…” Marc interrupted his excited sister. “Well, maybe, but that’s not the news.”

 

“Marc, don’t keep your sister in suspense. You know how she hates to be kept waiting,” Patrick joked. “Well, by anyone other than Rex.”

 

Jessica shot her chuckling father an icy glare, not wanting her troubled relationship to be brought up over lunch.

 

“Mr. Monroe…” Megan began, but the look on her father in law’s face caused her to start again. “Patrick, you’re going to be a grandfather.”

 

“You’re pregnant?” Jessica gushed as she reached across the table and held her sister in law’s hand. “That’s great news. When did you find out?”

 

“A few days ago.” Megan smiled. “We wanted to know for sure before we told people, but yeah, I’m eight weeks pregnant.”

 

“That’s my boy,” Patrick joked. “Have you told your mother yet?”

 

“We tried calling but her housekeeper says she’s out of the country with whatever his name is.”  Marc explained.

 

“Probably getting a Botox touch up while she’s at it.” Jessica rolled her eyes at the thought of her selfish mother.

 

“I’m really happy for you both.” Patrick had always liked the idea of being a grandfather, looking forward to the day Marc produced an heir to carry on the family name.

 

“It still hasn’t quite sunk in yet.” Megan grinned, relishing the prospect of motherhood.

 

“I wonder how long until Diane sinks her claws in.” Jessica muttered, taking a sip of the white wine that had just been placed on her table.

 

Megan’s face dropped. Leave it to Jessica to mention the one prospect of motherhood she was most certainly not relishing.

 

“We can handle Diane.” Marc wasn’t sure who he was trying to reassure more; Megan or himself.

 

 

Placing her Balenciaga handbag on the sideboard along with one from Hermès containing her latest purchase, Diane closed the door to the penthouse she shared with Joseph and took a seat on the brown leather sofa.

 

“We’ve got a visitor.” Joseph warned as he made his way down the staircase, the look on his face filling Diane with a sense of dread.

 

“I didn’t know we were expecting company.” Diane raised an eyebrow as she turned to face Joseph.

 

“We weren’t.” Joseph whispered.

 

“Well then, who…” before Diane could finish, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. A slim feminine frame dressed in skin tight jeans and a fitted blue pinstripe shirt made her way down the stairs, her glossy jet black hair shorter than before.

 

“Taylor?” Diane asked in disbelief.

“Like it could be anyone else.” Taylor smiled sweetly, but her eyes shot Diane a glare that made it well and truly clear that Diane’s life was about to become miserable with her presence.

 

“If only.” Diane muttered under her breath before standing up and regaining some composure. “It’s nice to see you, dear.”

 

“Taylor was just telling me how she plans to spend her spring vacation with us here in Oakridge.” Joseph couldn’t help but feel inconvenienced by his daughter’s presence. “Isn’t that a nice surprise?”

 

“I would have thought the weather would have been better in Texas.” Diane attempted to remain civil with Joseph’s bratty daughter when all she really wanted to do was tear her head off.

 

“I felt like a change.” Taylor insisted, polishing her fingernails on her shirt. “And I have a feeling this is going to be a whole lot of fun.”

 

With that, Diane’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach. Taylor’s type of fun could only mean one thing for Diane; hell on earth.

 

 

 

After running some errands, Carrie had been ordered by Kristen to take some time to herself and chill out before picking Adam up. She had arranged to meet with Jessica for an impromptu coffee, knowing that they had a lot to catch up on before they’d even spoke. As Jessica entered Fix and sat down next to Carrie, she couldn’t help but feel a little overdressed for the occasion.

 

“God, I really haven’t been getting out much, have I?” Carrie joked. “I didn’t know the coffee house had become so formal.”

 

“I was at The Albion for lunch with my father, Marc and Megan.” Jessica explained, feeling out of place in the café populated by students and mothers. “Did Greg tell you that Megan’s pregnant?”

 

“No, but I heard she and Marc got married. We don’t really get the chance to catch up on stuff like that, usually it’s just what Adam’s running low on and arranging visits.” Carrie took a sip of her mocha, “And to think, that was the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with.”

 

“And now you’ve got Nate.” Jessica tried to reassure her clearly tired friend.

 

“Yeah, in body, but it seems like his mind is always somewhere else.”

 

“At least you’ve got his body.” Jessica ripped open a sachet of sugar and emptied it into her latte, followed swiftly by another. “I barely see Rex for dust. And now that his brother’s living with us, it’s just a constant reminder of what I’ve not got.”

 

“How is Tyler settling in?”

 

“He works a lot of shifts at the hospital so I don’t really see much of him.” Jessica explained, “Still, it’s better that way than having him constantly hanging around the apartment whenever Rex and I are alone, I guess.”

 

“So things still aren’t going well between you two?”

 

“You could say that.” Jessica stirred her coffee frantically. “Listen, Carrie, I’ve got something to tell you but you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not even Nate.”

 

“You know you can trust me with anything.” Carrie insisted.

 

Jessica glanced around the café, making sure there was nobody in earshot who could listen in on her secret. She lowered her head closer to Carrie and whispered. “I’ve been having an affair.”

 

“What?” Carrie nearly spat out her coffee. “With who?”

 

“Shane Baldwin. I didn’t mean for it to happen or anything, it just kind of did. Twice. Well, two separate occasions, but a lot more than twice if you know what I mean.”

 

Jessica’s penchant for going that extra mile when divulging details of her sex life had been commonplace to Carrie ever since Jessica had first discovered ‘boys’, and she certainly hadn’t toned it down at all as she matured.

 

“But how?” Carrie struggled to process the news of Jessica’s illicit affair. “Last I heard, he was having romantic dinners with Kendall?”

 

“Eww no, he thinks of her like a daughter.” Jessica insisted. “After all, she is Leo’s sister. But anyway, it’s not anything serious or anything, but is it wrong that I feel absolutely no guilt over the fact that I’m cheating on Rex?”

 

“I dunno, maybe the fact that Rex is more committed to his job than he is to you should tell you something.”

 

“Do you think?”

 

“I don’t know. I’m hardly the person to be getting relationship advice from given my track record.”

 

“I thought you and Nate were really happy?” Jessica asked, puzzled.

 

“We are…we were. Things just haven’t been the same since I found out about him keeping DiCenzo’s death a secret from me. I mean I just don’t know if I can properly trust him, and I don’t think he’s happy. He’s been kind of distant lately, I just don’t know if he likes the situation he’s put himself in, tied down with me and Adam.”

 

“If he didn’t like it he wouldn’t have proposed.” Jessica reassured her friend.

 

“I suppose,” Carrie didn’t really want to dwell on her troubled relationship with Nate until she’d spoken to him about it. “So, you and Shane Baldwin, tell me more.”

 

 

Poking her fork around her Caesar salad with little interest in actually eating it, Lucy Baldwin glanced around the hip restaurant that her father had taken her to for lunch. Shane took a sip of his red wine as he cut into his steak, watching as his daughter gazed around with great disinterest.

 

“You could try and look a little less bored, sweetheart.” Shane commented as he watched the hot redhead behind the bar with one eye. Lunch at the Metro had its perks, even when trying to behave like a responsible father. “After all, it was you who wanted to go for lunch and ‘catch up’, as you put it.”

 

“Did my mother ever tell you about the time she took me to the ballet?” Lucy mentioned casually. “Last Christmas, she dragged me to see Swan Lake, I missed a party at Andrea Waldorf’s house and had to sit through hours of boring people dancing about the stage to even more boring music. I mean really, for the price she paid for the tickets, I would have rather have had the money.”

 

“I don’t see your point…”

 

“Well its like, I wasn’t a fan of it, but I did it to keep my mother happy.” Lucy finally forced a small piece of anchovy into her mouth and allowing herself to swallow it before finishing her sentence. “And yet when I ask her if I can vacation with my friends in Paris for the summer, she says she wants to go to the Hamptons and I have to go to keep her boring friend Elizabeth’s even more boring daughter Katherine company.”

 

“So that’s why you’re here? Because you fell out over vacation plans?” Shane raised an eyebrow.

“Well almost.” Lucy continued. “I wanted to spend time with my father. I saw more of you when you lived on the opposite side of the country in Los Angeles than I have done since you moved just a few hours away from Manhattan to this place.”

 

“I’m sorry, Lucy, it’s just that I’ve been really busy what with the new company and everything.” Shane insisted, another of the empty promises of ‘it wont happen again’ that he’d made his daughter over the years.

 

“How are things with the Sterlings?” Lucy asked in the tone of a sixty year old socialite. “You know, my friends still wont believe me when I tell them that Leo Sterling is my half brother.”

 

“How do they even know who Leo is?”

 

“Leo’s a celebrity, dad. Both he and Kimberley are.” Lucy scoffed as if her father had just returned to earth following a five year stretch on the moon. “Don’t you read Perez Hilton?”

 

“Who?”

 

“Anyway, I want to know why I’ve not seen him in so long. I trust he’s still living in Oakridge.” Lucy had idolized her brother for as long as she could remember, despite not seeing him since she was a little girl. “I was hoping that I’d be able to visit him while I’m here.”

 

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, sweetheart.” Shane’s relationship with Leo wasn’t exactly on good terms just now, so he didn’t know how Leo would react to his half sister suddenly worming her way into his life.

 

“Why not…wait a minute, isn’t that him over there?” Lucy asked, spotting the familiar face emerge from an elevator and light up a cigarette as he made his way through the non smoking lobby, blacked out sunglasses covering his probably bloodshot eyes.

 

“Great,” Shane thought to himself. “Like my day couldn’t get any worse.”

 

Before he could stop Lucy, she had darted across the restaurant and out into the lobby, yelling her brother’s name as she approached him.

 

“What’s the matter, don’t you recognize your little sister?” Lucy asked, noticing how bewildered Leo looked as she edged closer to him.

 

“Um, of course I do.” Leo insisted, despite the fact he wouldn’t be able to pick out his little sister out of a lineup considering how long it had been since he’d last seen her. “What are you doing here, Luce?”

 

“Having lunch with my…our father.” Lucy explained, giving her brother a warm hug, adoringly oblivious to the smell of cigarettes, alcohol and cocaine from Leo’s night of partying with a Swedish model in her private suite that had started two nights ago and ended two minutes ago. “Why don’t you join us?”

 

“I’d love to,” Leo insisted, still not entirely sure that the girl standing before him was, in fact, Lucy, “But I’ve got a whole load of things that I need to be getting on with…”

 

“No really, join us,” Shane appeared behind his daughter, face to face with his son. “I insist.”

 

“Come on, it will be fun,” Lucy promised her out of it older brother. “You can tell me everything.”

 

“Yeah, Leo, you can tell your sister everything.” Shane smirked, loving the fact that he finally had Leo cornered.

Defeated, Leo sighed, bracing himself for the afternoon ahead of him and hoping it was as quick and painless as possible.

 

 

Closing the door to her apartment, Jessica allowed the shopping bags that weighed down her arms to fall to the floor as she unzipped the figure hugging cream dress that had been making it very difficult to manoeuvre for the day and allowed it to join the bags on the hardwood floor. As she stepped out of her dress, keeping her Louboutin stilettos on, Jessica made her way to the kitchen and removed a bottle of water from the fridge, startled by the shadow standing opposite her.

 

“I hope you didn’t go out just wearing that.” Rex joked, referring to Jessica standing in her underwear and stilettos. “You’d catch your death. Or get arrested for indecent exposure.”

 

Jessica took a sip of her water, noting the irony that the only way she could spend time with Rex would be to get herself arrested. “It’s not like you to be home at…well, any hour.”

 

“I thought we could maybe do something tonight?”

 

“I’ve had a killer day.” Jessica insisted; while normally she’d be open to doing something with Rex, she asked herself why she should drop her planned night of watching Grey’s Anatomy with some ice cream just because Rex decided not to let his work control his life for one night. “I really just want to chill out.”

 

“How about I get us some takeout and we can have an early night?” Rex suggested, unable to control his urge to place his hands on Jessica’s near naked body and kiss her on the lips.

 

“Really, Rex, I’m totally wiped.” Jessica lied, pushing away in protest after weeks of sexual neglect on Rex’s part. Now that he was finally in the mood for sex, she was going to make him wait. “I just want to watch some TV and go to bed.”

 

Jessica stepped out of her heels and made her way into the living room, leaving a trail of mess in her wake as she closed the door to her bedroom, leaving a confused Rex standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

 

 

While Lucy had dragged a protesting Leo off to a movie at his encouragement, Shane Baldwin finally gained a moment of solitude. Sitting in the Metro bar sipping on a glass of red wine, he couldn’t help but notice a familiar blonde enter and take a seat at the opposite end of the bar.

 

“We meet again.” Shane smiled charmingly, raising a glass to Kristen as she ordered a drink. “Let me buy you a drink, to make up for last time.”

 

“Last time?” Kristen lied, pretending that she had no recollection of her first encounter with Shane. “I’m sorry, I think you have me mistaken for someone else.”

 

“Like I could ever mistake you for anyone else,” Shane flirted, making his way down the bar to the vacant stool next to Kristen. “I’m Shane, by the way, remember?”

 

“Kristen,” she stated bluntly as the bartended handed her a martini. As she reached inside her purse, Shane handed the bartender a crisp note and he walked away. “I can buy my own drinks, thank you very much.”

 

“And where would be the fun in that?”

 

“Why don’t you tell me?” Kristen half smiled, the ice queen exterior slowly starting to melt in the presence of the handsome bachelor sitting next to her.

 

Shane slid his hand over the bar and touched the ends of Kristen’s fingers. “I think you’ll find that you and I can have fun in so many different ways.”

 

“Down boy.” Kristen pulled her hand out of Shane’s reach, the brief tingle she felt when he touched her fingertips was enough for now. “Look, I don’t know who you are or what you want from me, but I’m not interested. Really.”

 

“I can assure you I want nothing more than to have a drink in the company of a beautiful woman like yourself.” Shane took another sip of his dark, blood red wine. “Now, that’s not too much to ask, is it?”

 

“I guess not.” Kristen smiled; part of her warming to Shane. After the emotionally draining relationship she shared with Greg, she was beginning to think maybe a bit of harmless fun was just what she needed.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…